NewsBlur vs NewsFlash
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
NewsBlur
Personal news reader with training and sharing
VS
NewsFlash
Desktop feed reader and spiritual successor to FeedReader
| Feature | NewsBlur | NewsFlash |
|---|---|---|
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,577 | ★ 900 |
| First released | 2009 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Google Reader | Feedly |
Why pick each one
Choose NewsFlash if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is NewsBlur or NewsFlash better?
Neither is universally better. NewsBlur has the larger community, while NewsFlash is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are NewsBlur and NewsFlash free and open-source?
Yes. NewsBlur is licensed under MIT and NewsFlash under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NewsBlur and NewsFlash with Docker?
NewsBlur: yes. NewsFlash: check the project docs for container support.